Physicist dies at 76
Watch Stephen Hawking's Swiss visit in 1987

This content was published on March 14, 2018 11:27 AMMar 14, 2018 - 11:27

Physicist Stephen Hawking, who died on Wednesday, gave a speech at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 1987. Here is an excerpt.

On September 4, 1987, Hawking presented his views on the "Origins of the Universe" at the institute. He was honoured at the event as patron of a foundation doing research into the physicist's motor neuron disease.

The German-language Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper wrote this about his visit:

"Hawking came at the invitation of the ALS/MND research instituteexternal link, and gave two presentations which were played from a disc. It was a bit like science fiction. While many sentences were pre-programmed, it took him some time to answer unexpected questions. When a member of the audience tried excusing themselve for their poor lack of knowledge of the research field, he answered laconically, 'That goes for most people'."